Fjellbunuten, Mar 26 2016

Peaks visited:

Peak

Height

PF

Municipality

Fjellbunuten

1340m

265m

Nore og Uvdal

Anne and me arrived at Cathrine and Lars’ cabin at Høk hyttegrend on Dagalifjell on the evening of the 25th. A bit tired after a long drive and two ski-trips on our way from Randsfjorden to Høk, we gladly accepted the invitation to warm up in the jacuzzi before dinner.

Enjoying life to the fullest at Cathrine and Lars’ cabin

On the next day, the plan was to ski to Fjellbunuten (1340m) – and the highest top on Dagalifjell – at least the mountain side east of Vasstulan. Cathrine and Lars had to be back from the trip at 1pm – due to a local arrangement. As such, we had to start our trip early.

The wind was strong, but the forecast for the day was that the weather would improve. At least we didn’t have to worry about a storm moving in. The distance to the top was almost 9km, and the natural choice would be regular cross-country skis. I had brought 4 pairs on my Easter vacation (randonee, cross-country, mountain and skating). I had used all but the skating skis so I decided to skate my way to Fjellbunuten. As I’ve only tried my skating skis once before (on a very short slope), this was a real challenge.

Our route from Høk to Fjellbunuten

From Høk, the route started uphill and I was a bit fatigued when we reached the main trail up the mountain after 1,5km. My skis hadn’t been prepared with glider, and weren’t performing as good as I had hoped. But the fact that we were on the way to a mountai top that I hadn’t been to before, gave me enough energy.

On our way to Fjellbunuten

Being a novice on skating skis, my technique was of course poor. But I focused on finding a combination of little effort and “good flow” and managed. On the flat pitches, I was way ahead of the others with little effort. In my mind, I could picture how much more fun this would be with proper preparation of the skis.

Karma was saving her energy for the descent, well knowing what’s ahead…

Eventually, we got to Lake Prestdalsvatnet and had Fjellbunuten ahead of us on the other side. Cathrine and Lars had been in this area many times before, but had never visited the high point. After 1,6km on the frozen lake, we could start the final climb to Fjellbunuten.

Fjellbunuten ahead

The wind was quite fierce when we got to the summit. It felt really good to find shelter behind the large cairn. We were well ahead of schedule; it took us 1,5 hours to ski the 8,9km to the top and the time was now 11:14am. And we would definitely not need more than 1 hour to get back to the cabin.

Anne, Karma, Cathrine and Lars on Fjellbunuten

The descent from the mountain top on skating skis was … interesting. But it wasn’t too bad, and most importantly – I did not fall. The rest of the trip back to Høk was pretty much a joyride, with segments of hard work in uphills and wind against. But we made it back to the cabin by 12:22pm – giving Cathrine and Lars some time to prepare for the local arrangement.

The competition in this hill is over, and we’re on our way to the prize ceremony – with medals made by Cathrine and Lars